Birth injury lawsuits in Illinois

We are lawyers who help people determine the right attorney for their case. One of the toughest areas we deal with are birth injuries. A birth injury can devastate a family. From a legal standpoint these are very complex cases and only a handful of law firms in Illinois have had real success with them. We help determine which firm is best for you. If you want our help please contact us. Although we are based in Chicago, we are not just a place to find a Cook County birth injury attorney. Rather we help throughout the state. All calls are free and confidential.

If you or a loved one is injured because of a health care provider’s misconduct or unreasonable care, you may have the grounds for a medical malpractice case. Medical malpractice is a term that is used often in our society with reference to doctors and certain medical mistakes but it applies to any health care provider and covers not only mistakes but also lack of treatment or other types of departures from the accepted standards.

Examples of medical malpractice include a misdiagnosis, improper treatment or failure to treat or a delay in treatment, failure to follow-up or failure to order necessary tests or evaluate their results, as well as misuse of prescription drugs or prescription mistakes.

In the case of a birth injury, examples of medical malpractice can include an improper medical technique used during the delivery, use of an improper medical device or failure to properly monitor the mother or child’s condition, among many others. These deviations from the accepted standards during labor and delivery can have devastating results

Some examples of these devastating results include:
Arm Injuries, Brachial Plexus - (Erb's Palsy and Klumpke's Palsy) - this condition occurs when the brachial plexus (the group of nerves that controls movement of the arms and hands) is injured. This injury most often results from "shoulder dystocia", a term which describes birth difficulties which result when the baby's shoulders impair its passage through the birth canal. When injury causes only bruising or swelling, the baby will typically recover in a matter of months. In more severe cases, there may be permanent nerve damage, and physical therapy and surgery may be required. Under the worse case scenario there can an almost permanent loss of use of the arm.

Brain Damage - Birth difficulties can result in oxygen deprivation to the baby as a result of blood loss, or the twisting or compression of the umbilical cord. Prolonged oxygen deprivation can cause brain damage, and may result in seizure disorders, cerebral palsy, or mental impairment. Often fetal monitoring strips can tell that a baby is in distress and if action isn’t taken promptly the damage is usually permanent and catastrophic.

Broken Bones – This most commonly happens when a collar bone is broken in a rough delivery. If there are going to be long term damages from that a case is worth investigating.

In Illinois, in order to recover in any medical malpractice case, you must prove four (4) elements. They are:

1. Relationship. The existence of a duty between the health care provider and the patient.
2. Actual Breach. The health care provider breached that duty.
3. Injury. The patient was injured.
4. Cause. A causal connection between the health care provider's breach and the patient's injury.

So, in the case of a birth injury, you must prove that there was a ‘doctor-patient’ relationship, that the duty of care was breached, that you or the baby were injured and the injury was a proximate cause of the breach. In order to prove that the health care provider breached his or her duty – that he or she deviated from accepted standards - you will have to establish what the standard is and how the health care provider fell below it. In order to do this, you will need expert testimony. That is why it is essential that you hire an experienced and established birth injury attorney. Such an attorney will know which of the best experts to call upon for your particular case.

An experienced and established birth injury attorney in Illinois will also be able to tell you the viability of your case, the likely chances for success and how to proceed in order to get the best outcome for you and your child.

Other things to note about birth injury cases –

- Generally, the statute of limitations is eight (8) years from the date of delivery. So, you should seek a birth injury attorney as soon as possible.

- In order to bolster your case and assist your attorney, find and organize all relevant records and documents. This includes hospital records, photos, names and contact information of all witnesses (doctors, nurses, aides). For brain injuries it is vital that you secure the fetal monitoring strips from t eh delivery.

- You should not be asked to put forth any money. In Illinois, medical malpractice lawyers work on a contingency basis. If you recover anything, your lawyer will generally get 33% of the first $150,000, with an adjusted percentage scale after that. But, if you recover nothing, you owe your lawyer nothing.

If you have questions about birth injuries or would like an attorney referral please contact us at any time. All calls are free and confidential. All of the lawyers at our firm are parents ourselves and we will treat you in the same manner that we as parents would want to be treated.